Transition

Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

October 6 Green Energy News

Opinion:

“Six Perspectives on the Fate of Utilities” Greentech Media has had an increase in coverage on utilities not because of obsession with their demise, but because the utility industry itself is grappling with how to manage the ongoing surge in distributed energy. [greentechmedia.com]

“Conservatives warming up to climate change” Many Republicans who once dismissed global warming as a liberal invention now see mounting consumption of fossil fuels as an environmental and economic threat and say consumers should drive the energy transition countering global warming. [Detroit Free Press]

Science and Technology:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that methane is far more potent a greenhouse gas than we had previously realized. Methane is now understood to be 34 times stronger a heat-trapping gas than CO2 over a 100-year time scale. [CleanTechnica]

World:

In a study titled “Energy Darwinism – the evolution of the energy industry“ – investment banking giant Citi says the global energy mix is shifting more rapidly than is widely appreciated, and this has major implications for generators, utilities, and consumers. [RenewEconomy]

US:

Maine’s wind power industry is poised to see its biggest period of growth since the state’s first major project was built six years ago, a surge brought on by unprecedented demand for renewable energy in southern New England and by evolving technology that has lowered the cost of producing electricity. [Press Herald]

A new program has been started this year in Rhode Island to provide small-scale solar projects with grants and low-interest loans from the state Renewable Energy Fund. Now, increasing numbers of residences in the state are having solar projects installed. [The Providence Journal]

Rhode Island is playing catchup in solar power generation with increasingly large arrays of PVs installed on otherwise unusable land in former landfills. An array of 12,848 panels is being built in a landfill in East Providence, to provide 3.7 MW. [The Providence Journal]